The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-09

! stage that nothing can be said about H. lnaU
/ he has often done so we have little DOUBT.
| He could do it now with wonderful tender
/ ness and with great artistic skill-iust such
! tenderness and talent as are evidenced when
! he plays rip Van Wrinkle" But we are
/ well content to have him show us how he
! lives, upon the boards.
| Fanny Davenport'5 death scene in 'Fe-
| dora" is not excelled by the great Bernhardt,
/ for ii Is magnificent, truthful and power
| fully affecting. Sarah Bernhardts dying
scene in "Theodora,' is more startling than
! agreeable, but yet it may be classed as
/ great"
Edwin Booth is always dramatic and vi
| wildly earnest i'll his death scenes. HIS
! quick, 1.-THE movements are peculiarly tell
1 Ing where the action requires such express
sion. As Hamlet" he dies with a kingly
! courtesy equal to the manner in which
/ he has borne his griefs; and through what
| ever character he passes into the land of
| shadows, he does so with grace and precl-
| ion.
| One of the most powerful opponents of
| the death agonies of the stage was LOucillie
| Western, in East Lynne. Her acting passed
away and beyond thepOwer of critical an
| alysis. 1t was full of faults, crude, untu-
tored and strange, but il contained so much
| nature, so much magnetic power, that thou
sands were stirred and moved to admira-
ton on witnessing it. A whole theatre
! uISHblJ gave neF Une Ul1DuUe Ol UtuIo lol ucI
| performance of this rather commonplace
character Her Nancy Sykes" was an
other remarkable Characterization. When
she was struck down by her brutal hus-
| band, a thrill of horror and of pity
| passed over the audience at the gentle
! forgiveness of the poor degraded creature,
whose last thought was for "Bill, her muir
derer.
| Matilda Heron, when she played in Cam
| lille for the first time in this city at Wal
! lacks Broome Street Theatre, with f. A.
! Sothern as Armand Duval," gave an adj
mirabe reproduction of the death scene as
! played by the original French actress, Mad
anne Doche.
Mrs. General Lander Jean Davenport)
was always an admirable actress in scenes
of pathos, yet her stage similitudes of death
often lacked softneSS and poetic fervor.
They may be more properly called power
| fur than touching"
| Count Johannes could die over a larger
| superficial area of stage plank than any
actor ever heard of. His final scene in
| Richard III. demanded space and freedom,
but he was not long in dying Therein
he differed from poor Hudson Kirby in
the Six Degrees of Crime, who took SO
| long in expiring that the memorable say
ing, Wake me up when Kirbys dead"
had its origin from the actors prolonged
effort.
|
the New York stage, was that of Matzetti's
in Jocko, the Brazilian Ape, at Niblo's. He
| was a pantomimist Of the Ravel troupe,
and a most talented man. As an ape he
| died, being shot in error while protecting
| the planters child. The mute, imploring
agony Of gesture coupled with the exhibit
ton of bodily suffering, were truly elo
! quent, and unbidden tears flowed from the
eyes of those who saw it. A veritable tri-
ulrph of acting!
The deaths of James Browne and Rufus
| Blake, in the character of Godfrey Dale, - in
the Last Man, will long be remembered.
They were alike, yet different. Both were
| admirable.
Mrs d. P. Bowers in her varied roper
toire, shows us wonderful death scenes, all
| different from each other, all artistic.
| From the nature Of the parts she plays this
makes her talent, in that particular, more
marked.
Amateurs. on the regular stage, always
| die badly; almost as badly as some of them
act There is nothing more difficult than
| to expire with genuine ability 1t is much
easier to live, theatrically than to die dra-
matically. No school, save that of expert
| ence, can teach an artist to yield up life
| with graceful effect. There is no Del
sartean method by which it can be acquired
or, if there is, it seems difficult of eXplana-
ton.
Green Bushes, will long be remembered by
old play -goers. 1t was in unison with every
thing she did, artistic and finished
The present school of drGmatists now and
then give good death scenes to the actors.
but none of them equal the writers of the
standard plays. The taste of the day runs
| more to sickly sentimentalism or morbid
ghastliness, and when the liking of Terrors"
is called upon to conquer a character he
dominates the scene, completely belittling
the actor. A good last dying speech"
properly introduced, is not to be despised,
and the modern horrors of the lola school,
as shown in Mana or L'Assomoir, do not COM
pensate for the want of that powerful writ
ing which distinguished the elder dranatists,
any more than does the gymnastic, break
neck style of playing compensate fer the
want of skilled acting
There were unfortunate deaths not long
ago of the Romeo" and Juliet" of a pro-
vincial company. They both died below the
curtain line, and had to be dragged back by
the heels to allow the blaze to descend. The
Juliet" was bitterly reproached, and the
Romeo incontinently kicked out of the
theatre. Such deaths are indeed sad, and
gofar TO prove the great need of possessing
n modicum of talent; sufficient, at any rate,
10 gauge distance and to avoid falling out
of the picture.